Gate-operating system



y Nov. 26,` 1929. F.y KAHLER GATE OPERATING SYSTEM Filed Aug. 6, 1926 4Sheets- Sheet l R. m ,/,w N Y N m e im T. W//N Nov. 26, 192.9.

F. KAHLER GATE OPERATING SYSTEM Filed Aug. 6, 1926 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 m,my@

IN V EN TOR.

F. K AHLER GATE OPERATING SYS TEM 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 TH 2 M Filed Aug. 6,1926 INVENTOR. /2 [92',

Nov, 26, 1929. F. KAHLER GATE OPERATING SYSTEM Filed Aug. 6, 1926 4Sheets-#Sheet 4 ATTORNEY Patented Nov. 26, 1929 UNTED STATES FRANKKAHLER, OF LGS ANGELES, CALEGRJA' GATE-OPERATING SYSTEM'.

Application led August 6, 1926.

My invention relates broadly to gate operating mechanism and moreparticularly to an automatic actuator for a system of gates where thegates may be opened or closed from a distant point.

One of the objects of my invention is to provide a gate operatingmechanism whereby the approach of a vehicle automatically controls themovement of the gate system.

Another object of my invention is to provide a construction of gateoperating mechanism whereby a compressed air operated device is employedfor securing swinging movement of a gate structure where means are.provided for controlling the supply of compressed air to the operatingmechanism from a distant point.

Another object of my invention is to provide an arrangement for mountinga swinging gate structure under control of a ball bearing raceway formaintaining he gate structure in alignment with a compressed airoperated cylinder system where a composite vertical and rotative motionmay be imparted to the gate structure for opening or closing the gatefrom a distant point. l

A still further object of my invention provides a control structuremounted adjacent a system of rails which is normally guarded by a systemof gates7 the control structure being actuated by the approach ofrolling stoel; on the rail system for imparting movement to the systemof gates.

Still another object of my invention re-` sides in the construction of arail mechanism arranged to be engaged by the wheels of a moving trainfor actuating associated equipment for imparting motion to a gate systemwhereby the gate system is automatically moved in predetermined ordervby an approaching train.

Another object of my invention is to pr vide a gate operating systemwherein the gate is initially elevated and then rotatably moved to openposition, so that accumulations of snow at the crossing points of therailroad are easily surmounted.

@ther and further objects of my invention i will be understood from thespecification Serial No. 127,595.

hereina ter following by reference to the accompanying drawing in which:

Figure l is a plan view illustrating the arrangement of the gate controlsystem of my invention with respect to a safety door for mines; Fig. 2is a front view of the safety door for mines showing the controlmechanism of my invention applied thereto; Fig. 3 is a cross-sectionalview showing the actuating mechanism for the safety mine door of myinvention; Fig. l is a cross-sectional view talien on line i-4 of Fig. 3illustrating the foundation mounting for the mine door; Fig. 5 is afragmentary view of the swivel construction for the mine door partiallybroken away and in cross section; Fig. 6 is a crosssectional view of afragmentary portion of the foundation mounting for the mine door showingthe supporting swivel for the door in its uppermost raised position;Fig. 7' is a cross-sectional view taken through one of the rails andshowing the controlfmechanism in normal'position with respect thereto;Fig. 8 is a cross-sectional View showing the control mechanism inoperated position by virtue of the movement of a car wheel over thecontrol mechanism; Fig. 9 is a plan view of a railway crossing employinga gate system in accordance with my invention and showing the valve gearby which the gate system is con trolled; Fig. l0 is a frontl viewshowing the gate system closed with respect to a highway or railroadcrossing such as illustrated in il" 9; llig. ll is an enlargedcross-sectional vie v of a modified foundation mounting for a gatesystem in accordance with the principles of my invention; Fig. l2 is across-sectional view through the alternative foundation construction oftho gate system illustrated at Fig. ll; Fig. l?) illustrates the swivelfor the gate system of Fig. 1l showing a part thereof in crosssection;Figs. 14, l5 and 16 illustrate the con r provide struction of themechanism which l adjacent. to the rail system for securing actuationkof the valve control system -by the approach of a train; and Fig. li"is a. sectional view taken on line 1LT-17 of Fig. 2 showing tra ing thegate.

My present invention is an improvement the ball bearing racewav forvertically align-y over my invention set forth particularly in LettersPatent 1,424,913, granted to me August 8, 1922.

In my present invention I provide an automatic system for controllingthe movement of a gate. I have illustrated my invention in connectionwith a compressed air operated mechanism, but I desire that it beunderstood that the system may be electrically controlled ormechanically actuated by the approach of a moving vehicle and that thesystem illustrated herein has been selected for the purpose ofexplaining one of the preferred embodiments of my invention and that IVdo not intend that my invention shall be limited to the specificarrangement shown.

My invention has numerous applications, among which I may mention theemployment of a gate in accordance with the principles of my inventionherein as safety doors for mines, guards for railroad crossings, gatesfor highway crossings, farm gates, single and double acting doors andspecial gate structures used in connection with the right of way in arailroad system.

For the purposes of illustrating my invention I have shown itsapplication in a safety door for mines and as a guard for a railroadcrossing, and its application to other arrangements will be more fullyunderstood from the following specification:

Referring to the drawings in greater detail, reference character 1designates an underground timbered set forming a drift or tunnel in amine with a swinging door 2 for restricting the passageway through themine for the purpose of safety or for air restriction as part of aventilation system in a mine where the doors are to be opened only uponthe approach of a vehicle on rails through the mine. The door 2 isprovided with a supporting post 3 at one side thereof, the postextending below the lower edge of the door into a foundation assemblyindicated at il. The foundation assembly may be con-k structed of cementor suitable homogeneous material to which is secured a verticallyextending cylinder member 5 anchored to the lower portion of thefoundation fl as repren sented at 6. The cylinder portion 5 is pro videdwith a cylindrical portion 7 which forms a longitudinal guide for areduced.

portion 8 of the vertical post 3. The side wall of cylinder 7 isspirally grooved as rep! resented at 9 to receive a roller member 10secured upon a bolt 11 which passes through the reduced cylinder portion8 of the vertically extending post 3. The spiral groove 9 serves as, ameans for imparting positive rotation to the gate, as it is movedvertically by the admission ofrcompressed air below the portion 8 of thepost 3 within the cylinder 12. 'Ihat is to say7 upon the admission ofcompressed air into the portion l2 of the cylinder 5 the pressureagainst reduced portion 8 is such as to impart a vertical forcethereagainst which is designed to move said portion 8 in a rotating pathby roller 10 moving in spiral groove 9.

Air is supplied to the cylinder 12 through pipe line 1e which leads tosupply lines 15 and 16, from a compressed air supply at 17 where thesupply is controlled by means of valves 13 and 19 under control of valverods 20 and 21 secured to points spaced along the longitudinallyextending plate 22 which parallels the rails 2li. The plate 22 issecured with respect to the tread of the rails 24e by means of springpressed members 25 in the form of bolts which pass through the web ofthe rail 24 and are spring pressed in such manner that the plate 22 isnormally spring pressed and maintained acent the rail 24. A similararrangement of the control system is provided on the oppositeside of thedoor 2 for actuation by a train approaching in an opposite direction,that is to say, a plate member 22 is spring pressed by members 25adjacent the side of the rail, and there are provided valve rods 20 and21 which lead to valves 13 and 19 to thereby control air under pressurethrough the pipe line 15 to the cylinder 12. It will be observed thatpates and 22 are flared outwardly at 2G to enable the wheel flanges ofan approaching train to engage between the rail 2a and plate 22 asrepresented at Fig. 8 for imparting movement to the valve controlsystem.

In order to compensate for the weight of the door 2 I provide rollers 27over which a cable 28 passes and a weight 29 attached through andvertically movable within a pit 30 of the foundation construction 4t. Anautomatic pressure release device 31 is connected to the cylindricalportion 12 for bleeding the cylinder of pressure directly beneath thepiston member 8 in securing return of the door 2. In order to balancethe upper portion of the door or gate 2 I provide a ball bearing raceway32 suitably secured to the frame 1 as represented at '33. rIhesupporting post 3 is journaled in the raceway 32 for rotative movementand a portion of the gate 2 is cut away as represented at 34 permittingthe rise of the gate during the turning movement thereof. f

In Ii 9 I have illustrated more particularly the application of theinvention to a railway crossing where the traclrails are represented at35 leading across a highway 36 prot cted by gates 37. A gate post 33 isprovided for each of the gates having an annular reduced portion 39 asrepresented in F ig. 13 sliding in a cylinderdilie chamber d() having anenlarged port-ion 40 in which air under pressure is introduced. A boltmember 41 passes through the reduced portion 39 of the gate post andcarries a roller l2 which operates in spiral track e3. A high llOpressure inlet to the cylinder 40 is represented at 44; with a pressurerelease device 45 of any suitable type connected to the upper portion ofthe cylinder 40 for bleeding the cylinder slowly so that when thepressure is cut ott from the'cylinder 40 the gate will tend to returnslowly to its lowerinost position with respect to cylinder a0. A post 46is anchored in the'ounda-tion 52 and carries a ball bearing raceway t7for steadying the rotatable post Rollers 48 are carried on theextremities o'l' post i6 permitting a cable 49 to be passed thereoverand secured to balance weights 50 operating in pit 5l of f thefoundation block 52.

rhe trackway is provided with shoes 53 and 54 connected slidably byspring` actuated devices 55 with the rails 35. @ne end ot each of trackshoes 53 and 54 is tapered as represented at 56 while the other endcarries a spring device 57 with swinging extremity 58 thereon. The lowerpart oi' the shoe is engaged by an arm 59 slotted at 60 to receive abolt member 61, the entire assembly being pressed inwardly against theaction of the spring on bolt member 61 by the flange of railway wheelentering at 56. Valve rods 62 are secured to the shoes 53 and 5t for thecontrol ot valves 63 and the supply of pressure to pipe line system 6afor admitting pressure at la to selected cylinders d0 tor raising thegate posts 88.

YV here a train enters at 58 the flange ot the railway wheel will forcethe shoe 54 away from the rail 35 and cause the operation oitcorresponding valves 63. A train, however, approaching in the oppositedirection will merely move the pivoted arm 59 against the action of thespring on bolt 61 in the direction of the rail 35 without actuating theair supply valves. ln this manner some of the gates may be controlled bya train approaching in a particular direction whereas they are notcontrolled by a train approaching from an opposite direction.

The arrangement ot the rail shoes permits an approaching train toinitially actuate the gate system and then the several cars of the trainserve to maintain the gates in actuated position until the train passesover the length of the shoes adjacent the rails. The move ment of theshoe with respect to the rail is relatively slight depending upon thethickness of the flange F ot the wheel W, but this movement is sutilient to actuate the valve system for obtaining movement or" the gates.[is the last car passes over the shoe the shoe returns to its positionadjacent the rail and cuts ed first one valve and then another valvepermitting the release ot air from beneath the gate post and the returnof the gate to a selected position by gravitational action.

The particular arrangement of the shoes adjacent the rails in the systemof my invention permits the selective operation of certain of the gatesby a train passing in one direction which would normally notbe oper-vated by a train passing in another direction. The arrangement of thespring pressed device 58 is, such that a train may pass over one shoesystem and actuate the railway gates and then pass over the other shoesystem without ati'ecting the control already set up. A t-rain passingover the same right of way in the opposite direction will trip the shoesystem opposite to that tripped by the train traveling` inthe firstmentioned direction.

Railway gates are extremely important as cattle guards with respect toroadways con-v gestedwith traiiic and my invention is particularlyuseful in these arrangements.

While l have described my invention in certain preferred embodiments, Idesire that it be understood that modications may be made and that nolimitations are` intended other than are imposed by the scope ot theappended claims.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates is as follows:

l. A gate operating system for railways including a track, a. pivotallymounted gate adjacent said track, means for imparting vertical androtative motion to said gate, a control device located adjacent saidtrack on opposite sides of the approach to said gate, one of saidcontrol devices being arranged to be actuated by movement of a trainover said railway in one direction and the other of said control devicesbeing arranged to be actuated by movement of a train over said railwayin the opposite direction and connections between said control devicesand said first mentioned means for rotatively moving said gate.

2. In a gate operating system tor railways including tracks, a gatemounted adjacent said railway, a compressed air operated mechanism forimparting vertical and rotative movement to said gate, a pair oflongitudinally extending shoe members located adjacent said tracks onopposite sides of the approach to said gate and a plurality of valvessecured to said shoe members and arranged to be actuated by the movementof a train over said shoe `members in predetermined direc tions foractuating the compressed air mechanism for controlling the rotation ofsaid gate.

3. In a gate actuating system for railways, including the tracks, a gaterotatably mounted adjacent said railway, a compressed air operatedmechanism for imparting vertical and then rotative movement to saidgate, a pair of longitudinally extending shoe members positionedadjacent said tracks on opposite sides of the approach to said gate,said shoe members being normally spring pressed adjacent one side or'said tracks and arranged to be dis'- placed by the movement et the wheeliiange of a railway train over said tracks, a pluralitt7 ofva-lvescontrolled by the movement of said shoes and connections between lsaidvalves and said compressed air mechanism for delivering a supply of airunder pressure for iirst elevating and then rotatively moving said gateupon the approach of a train in a predetermined direction.

Li. A pneumatic gate control mechanism for railways including the railsWhich consists of a longitudinally extending strip member normallyspring pressed adjacent the side of one of the rails, said strip membercarrying a movable trip device adjacent one end thereof, said tripdevice being operated by the entry of a moving train over said rails forlaterally displacing said strip member and a valve actuating mechanismfor initially elevating said gate and then rotatably moving the gate inaccordance With the displacement 0 of said strip member.

In testimony whereof I aihx my signature.

FRANK KAHLER.

